Pete Crow Armstrong/Photo by Perfect Game
On Thursday, as our Mets Minors league team chewed on our nails, watching pick for pick go by, we had a common player we were looking for: Pete Crow-Armstrong. My top guy on the board for most of the spring, Crow-Armstrong is an athletic center fielder well known among draft enthusiasts since the age of 12.
PCA’s profile includes plus speed and glove in center field and the ability to hit hard liners all around the field. During the summer of 2019, he showed more swing and miss than usual in the prep leagues, causing him to slide down draft boards.
However, during his limited play in the spring, he had been posting plus numbers for exit-velocity with a pretty left-handed swing that posted excellent bat speed and improved loft. He was hitting .514 in 42 at-bats this spring before the season shut down, striking out only once. He has shown the ability to control the strike zone well and hunt for the right pitch. With some possible burgeoning power, combined with an above-average hit tool and plus center field defense, Crow-Armstrong may be a steal in this year’s draft at No. 19.
Crow Armstrong attended Harvard-Westlake, the same high school as Max Fried, Lucas Giolito, and Jack Flaherty, and achieved top honors as an underclassman for the USA 18-and-under’s top team for the Pan-American Championships. A young man with confidence, and the propensity to wow his coaches, scouts have consistently checked boxes in the makeup department. Sean Casey once managed him in the Under-Armor Tournament, and had nothing but glowing reviews, comparing him to Grady Sizemore, and touting both his winning attitude and skills on the field.
His tenacity and attitude are infectious as he’s said before that he doesn’t just want to be a baseball player, he wants to make an impact. He’s known as someone who goes all-out. As Molly Knight reported in a piece in The Athletic, Crow-Armstrong once told a manager during a game that he was going to “hit a baseball over the f*cking mountain”. He then homered. His Harvard-Westlake coach, called him a “Manager’s dream,” praising his ability to be coached. He prides himself on his defensive play, and the willingness to be emotional and loud on the field. That attitude can play in New York.
Maybe just as interesting as his play is his roots, as he was born to actors Ashley Crow and Matt Armstrong. Ashley Crow is known mostly for her role as the mother in the 1994 kid’s movie, Little Big League. She also played a big role as the mother to the self-healing character in the intersectional drama Heroes. Matt John Armstrong, also of Heroes fame, also appeared in American Horror Story and The Young and The Restless.
According to Knight, PCA’s greatest influence is Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, who gives insight into Mindfulness. Mindfulness is used therapeutically to keep people in the here and now, and using breathing exercises to keep anxiety low, and a person a calm, meditative state. As a therapist myself, it is impressive to see such maturity and knowledge on how to deal with personal crisis out of an 18-year-old ballplayer.
The biggest hurdle between the Mets and their No. 19 pick is his commitment to college baseball powerhouse, Vanderbilt, which Crow-Armstrong could choose due to the draft’s pay deferment for this year. On the other hand, he is a client of Brodie’s former agency, CAA, and could have already worked out a pre-draft deal.
As the top realistic player on my board, PCA looks like a player with great upside and maturity and fills the void as a true center fielder and top-of-the-order hitter in the Mets farm system. This has been lacking since the Mets traded a certain prized pick. With a successful day one for the draft in the books, the team looks poised to make waves, with the 52nd, 69th, 91st, 120th and 150th picks on the way for Day 2, starting at 5:00 EST. The draft will be covered right here at MMO/MMN. Stay tuned.
